Coughing is an important reflex that keeps our throat and airways clear from irritants and mucus.
As we know all too well, a cough often accompanies viral infections of our upper airways, such as colds or the flu. Nerve endings in our throat can fire off easily in response to triggers such as a tickle from a dry crumb or a sudden change in air temperature, prompting a cough.
However, when we catch one of the viruses that can cause an upper airway infection, the virus inflames our throat, making the nerve endings more sensitive and more prone to firing.
Having a runny nose can also cause a cough. This is because the runny mucus can drip down the back of our throats, causing irritation and making us cough.
Did you know that some infections make you cough so they can spread to new people easier? They activate the cough reflex and are inside the drops of saliva or mucus that come out then infect anyone they land on. Its one of the tricky ways infections make use of what is a normal process for us to their advantage! This can happen with sneezing too!
Coughing is the body’s way of removing foreign material or mucus from the lungs and upper airway passages or of reacting to an irritated airway. By the way a cough is only a symptom, not a disease. In medicine coughs are usually studies under two categories: 1) productive and 2)non-productive.
A productive cough produces phlegm or mucus (sputum). The mucus may have drained down the back of the throat from the nose or sinuses or may have come up from the lungs. A productive cough generally should not be suppressed-it clears mucus from the lungs. For instance when you have any infection, you usually make a productive cough.
Whereas a nonproductive cough is dry and does not produce sputum. A dry, hacking cough may develop toward the end of a cold or after exposure to an irritant, such as dust or smoke. People make nonproductive coughs mainly due to allergies.
Coughing is an important reflex that keeps our throat and airways clear from irritants and mucus.
As we know all too well, a cough often accompanies viral infections of our upper airways, such as colds or the flu. Nerve endings in our throat can fire off easily in response to triggers such as a tickle from a dry crumb or a sudden change in air temperature, prompting a cough.
However, when we catch one of the viruses that can cause an upper airway infection, the virus inflames our throat, making the nerve endings more sensitive and more prone to firing.
Having a runny nose can also cause a cough. This is because the runny mucus can drip down the back of our throats, causing irritation and making us cough.
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Did you know that some infections make you cough so they can spread to new people easier? They activate the cough reflex and are inside the drops of saliva or mucus that come out then infect anyone they land on. Its one of the tricky ways infections make use of what is a normal process for us to their advantage! This can happen with sneezing too!
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Coughing is the body’s way of removing foreign material or mucus from the lungs and upper airway passages or of reacting to an irritated airway. By the way a cough is only a symptom, not a disease. In medicine coughs are usually studies under two categories: 1) productive and 2)non-productive.
A productive cough produces phlegm or mucus (sputum). The mucus may have drained down the back of the throat from the nose or sinuses or may have come up from the lungs. A productive cough generally should not be suppressed-it clears mucus from the lungs. For instance when you have any infection, you usually make a productive cough.
Whereas a nonproductive cough is dry and does not produce sputum. A dry, hacking cough may develop toward the end of a cold or after exposure to an irritant, such as dust or smoke. People make nonproductive coughs mainly due to allergies.
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